https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/324446/feed Latest news, features and analysis on human rights, with a focus on civil liberties in Hong Kong, mainland China and Asia. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Associated Press Associated Press Police across France are under pressure to maintain security during further protests expected in some cities, while facing scrutiny over their riot-control tactics used during previous unrest that left some teenagers seriously injured. Officers appeared outnumbered and overwhelmed during last weekend’s protests against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. In response, France’s Interior Ministry said it would deploy 20 per cent more police this Saturday than last weekend, even as... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3371879/france-braces-more-unrest-police-tactics-and-weapons-face-scrutiny https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3371879/france-braces-more-unrest-police-tactics-and-weapons-face-scrutiny Fri, 23 Oct 2026 05:50:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Tennessee execution team members failed multiple times to establish working IV lines in Christa Pike’s arms before her attempted execution and warned that some of her veins may have ruptured, or “blown”, before she was injected with the lethal drug, her lawyer wrote in a court document filed Thursday. The IV team went through about 10 needles and tried several IV sites on both arms, lawyer Randy Spivey wrote in the document, which provides the most detailed account of the execution attempt so... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3371858/either-blood-or-blown-graphic-account-botched-us-execution https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3371858/either-blood-or-blown-graphic-account-botched-us-execution Fri, 23 Oct 2026 03:00:31 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The son of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi said she sounded “fairly healthy” after speaking to the detained ex-democratic leader on Thursday for the first time in more than five years. Suu Kyi, 81, is under house arrest in the capital, Naypyidaw, according to Myanmar authorities, where she has been sequestered since being unseated in a 2021 military coup. “She was sounding fairly healthy,” Kim Aris, who lives in the UK, said after the telephone conversation. It was the first time he had spoken to his... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3371841/rare-suu-kyi-phone-call-son-signals-shift-myanmar-junta-strategy https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3371841/rare-suu-kyi-phone-call-son-signals-shift-myanmar-junta-strategy Fri, 23 Oct 2026 01:33:46 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Facing US sanctions, the International Criminal Court was on Thursday awarded the European Union’s top rights prize, in a show of support that risks upsetting President Donald Trump. “The European Union is built on respect for multilateralism and international institutions, and this prize recognises the important work of the court in upholding international law and justice,” said European Parliament chief Roberta Metsola in announcing the award. The ICC thanked the European Parliament for giving... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3371801/eu-gives-top-human-rights-award-icc-amid-trump-sanctions https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3371801/eu-gives-top-human-rights-award-icc-amid-trump-sanctions Thu, 22 Oct 2026 10:37:56 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick China on Wednesday condemned an arrest warrant issued in the US state of Florida for former Cuban president Raul Castro over the 1996 downing of two civilian planes, accusing the United States of using the courts to pressure Havana. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning was asked about the warrant by the state-run Global Times at a regular briefing in Beijing. She referred to the 95-year-old as “comrade Raul Castro”, a “venerated” leader held in high international esteem. Mao said China opposed... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3371697/comrade-raul-beijing-defends-cubas-ex-leader-over-florida-murder-warrant https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3371697/comrade-raul-beijing-defends-cubas-ex-leader-over-florida-murder-warrant Wed, 21 Oct 2026 23:02:27 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi received a package from Britain’s King Charles on Monday, authorities said, releasing the first pictures of the detained Nobel laureate in two months and describing her as a “special female prisoner”. It is the first time Myanmar authorities have used the term to describe Suu Kyi, who was deposed in a military coup in 2021, triggering a civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people, according to monitor ACLED. The coup leader and former junta chief Min Aung Hlaing... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3371436/detained-suu-kyi-receives-royal-package-uks-king-charles-myanmar-government https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3371436/detained-suu-kyi-receives-royal-package-uks-king-charles-myanmar-government Mon, 19 Oct 2026 23:46:39 +0000 Reuters Reuters Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil on Monday asked the US Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that opened the door for US President Donald Trump’s administration to rearrest and deport the Palestinian activist. Khalil’s lawyers asked the justices to take up his case after the Philadelphia-based 3rd US Circuit ‌Court of Appeals ruled that federal immigration law barred a lower-court judge from ordering his release from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. Khalil was among... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3371429/palestinian-activist-mahmoud-khalil-asks-us-supreme-court-review-deportation-case https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3371429/palestinian-activist-mahmoud-khalil-asks-us-supreme-court-review-deportation-case Mon, 19 Oct 2026 20:52:34 +0000 Reuters Reuters Starvation cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 28 others were found guilty of murder by a Kenyan court on Monday over the deaths of 190 children and an adult in one of the world’s worst cult-related tragedies in recent history. The preacher was arrested in 2023 after police received a tip-off, and weeks later authorities began uncovering bodies in shallow graves in the Shakahola Forest near the coast in southeastern Kenya. Prosecutors say ‌Mackenzie and his Good News International Church organised a... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/africa/article/3371417/kenyan-starvation-cult-leader-found-guilty-murder-191-children-1-adult https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/africa/article/3371417/kenyan-starvation-cult-leader-found-guilty-murder-191-children-1-adult Mon, 19 Oct 2026 15:51:17 +0000 Cliff Buddle Cliff Buddle Irish writer Sally Rooney is a publishing sensation, often described as the “voice of a generation” and the first great millennial novelist. More than six million copies of her books have been sold globally since her debut novel in 2017. But now, these beautifully written literary bestsellers, with their youthful exploration of romance and relationships, class and technology, are being withdrawn from sale in the United Kingdom. The generation of royalties for Rooney from the book sales, the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3371199/palestine-action-sally-rooneys-books-and-absurd-fallout-uk-ban https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3371199/palestine-action-sally-rooneys-books-and-absurd-fallout-uk-ban Mon, 19 Oct 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Albanian police fired water cannon and tear gas Sunday as violent anti-government protests entered a sixth day and Prime Minister Edi Rama rejected demonstrators’ demands that he resign. Violent demonstrations have rocked Tirana since Tuesday with protesters calling for action over poor university conditions, high tuition fees and corruption. Hundreds of protesters gathered again at noon in front of the education ministry chanting “Rama, resign” amid a tense stand-off with police. After police... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3371332/albanian-pm-edi-rama-refuses-quit-violent-protests-enter-6th-day https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3371332/albanian-pm-edi-rama-refuses-quit-violent-protests-enter-6th-day Sun, 18 Oct 2026 23:04:07 +0000 Reuters Reuters Police in Albania fired what appeared to be rubber bullets at protesters on Saturday, the fifth day of mass student protests demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama step down. Reuters video footage showed police firing a shotgun towards crowds outside the education ministry during clashes with protesters. Reuters reporters found rubber pellets on the ground and pellets hit two Reuters journalists ‌and several protesters, leaving round marks. The incident marks an escalation in a confrontation between... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3371273/albanian-police-fire-rubber-bullets-student-protesters-call-pm-quit https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3371273/albanian-police-fire-rubber-bullets-student-protesters-call-pm-quit Sat, 17 Oct 2026 16:05:10 +0000 C. Uday Bhaskar C. Uday Bhaskar The awarding of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay matters for reasons that go well beyond the laureate herself. The award does three things at once. First, it restores credibility to the prize. Second, it rejects in unambiguous terms the Thrasymachian doctrine that might is right, which has become the operating philosophy of major powers. Third, it highlights a warning of what happens when a hegemon decides it is above the law. The correction was... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3370866/nobel-peace-prize-message-behind-navi-pillays-win https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3370866/nobel-peace-prize-message-behind-navi-pillays-win Fri, 16 Oct 2026 12:30:07 +0000 Teresa Elena Frontado Teresa Elena Frontado US President Donald Trump on Thursday cancelled plans to live-stream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, reversing a Pentagon initiative that drew political and religious criticism. Trump said Hasan’s execution by firing squad would proceed as scheduled, but would not be broadcast. The Pentagon has set the execution for December 3. “He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Hasan, a former US Army... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3371056/trump-cancels-planned-pentagon-live-stream-fort-hood-shooters-firing-squad-execution https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3371056/trump-cancels-planned-pentagon-live-stream-fort-hood-shooters-firing-squad-execution Thu, 15 Oct 2026 14:50:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Costa Rica, considered for decades a peaceful enclave in turbulent Central America, has now made fighting drug trafficking one of its main goals. And it is turning to one of its Central American neighbours for inspiration in its hardline crackdown. On Wednesday, President Laura Fernandez inaugurated a mega-prison that emulates the Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) that has become a symbol of Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele’s security strategy. Bukele has managed to reduce murders to a... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3370948/costa-rica-latest-adopt-bukele-blueprint-new-mega-prison https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3370948/costa-rica-latest-adopt-bukele-blueprint-new-mega-prison Thu, 15 Oct 2026 03:53:38 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Irish author Sally Rooney can no longer sell her books in the UK because of her support for the activist group Palestine Action, her publisher Faber said on Wednesday. Rooney has previously expressed her support for the group, which was banned as a “terrorist” organisation by the UK government in July 2025. It is not banned in Ireland, where Rooney lives. The proscription, which the organisation is appealing against, puts Palestine Action on the same blacklist as militant groups Hamas and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3370918/sally-rooney-books-cant-be-sold-uk-amid-palestine-action-ban-publisher-says https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3370918/sally-rooney-books-cant-be-sold-uk-amid-palestine-action-ban-publisher-says Wed, 14 Oct 2026 16:41:07 +0000 Reuters Reuters Catholics serving in the US Army should not take part in the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan that the Pentagon is planning to live stream on December 3, a prominent US archbishop said on Monday. In an unusually strongly worded statement, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees the spiritual care of ‌Catholic members of the US armed forces, raised a series of objections to the unprecedented plan to broadcast the execution of Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3370649/catholics-us-army-must-not-take-part-firing-squad-armed-forces-archbishop-says https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3370649/catholics-us-army-must-not-take-part-firing-squad-armed-forces-archbishop-says Mon, 12 Oct 2026 20:41:13 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse At least 139 migrants died, including 15 children, and 84 went missing when an overcrowded boat sank while heading from Djibouti to Yemen, a UN agency said on Sunday. The vessel was carrying 305 people, most of them Ethiopian, when it capsized north of the Djibouti town of Obock on the night of October 8-9, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement. “Survivors told me that the boat started to sink backwards as soon as they got in it,” Alexandre Coissac, IOM chief of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/middle-east/article/3370522/least-139-migrants-dead-dozens-missing-after-boat-capsizes-djibouti https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/middle-east/article/3370522/least-139-migrants-dead-dozens-missing-after-boat-capsizes-djibouti Mon, 12 Oct 2026 01:05:42 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo While Israel denounces the Nobel committee’s award of the Peace Prize to former UN human rights chief and South African judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, the United States decides to sanction the entire International Criminal Court. Rarely has a single day shown so starkly where the international order is breaking down. On Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded its Peace Prize to Pillay “for her efforts to promote peace and international law”. Within hours, Israel compared her to Joseph... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3370471/us-and-israel-have-gone-full-rogue https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/world-opinion/article/3370471/us-and-israel-have-gone-full-rogue Sun, 11 Oct 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Christa Pike, who survived Tennessee’s attempt to execute her by lethal injection, has been moved back to prison, her lawyers said on Saturday. Pike, 50, was discharged from the hospital and is back at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Centre, the women’s prison where she was housed for 30 years, her lawyers said in a written statement. “She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances. She is continuing to receive medical care at... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3370456/christa-pike-out-hospital-and-back-prison-after-surviving-us-execution-attempt https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3370456/christa-pike-out-hospital-and-back-prison-after-surviving-us-execution-attempt Sat, 10 Oct 2026 16:43:39 +0000 Reuters Reuters Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday postponed legislative elections due next month until September 11, 2027, and called a presidential poll for the same date, blaming Israel and ‌the security situation in the Palestinian territories for the delay. Abbas’ decree cited “obstacles posed by Israeli measures” and the need to establish suitable political, security and on-the-ground conditions for “free, fair and inclusive elections”, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. The... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/middle-east/article/3370455/palestinian-leader-abbas-postpones-elections-september-2027 https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/middle-east/article/3370455/palestinian-leader-abbas-postpones-elections-september-2027 Sat, 10 Oct 2026 15:09:00 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court on Friday, hours after one of its former judges won the Nobel Peace Prize, putting Washington on a diplomatic collision course with European allies. The court denounced the move as an “assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order” and called on its 125 member states to take action to defend it. “The court cannot stand alone. Its fate now rests also in the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3370403/us-slaps-sanctions-icc-hours-after-ex-judge-wins-nobel https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3370403/us-slaps-sanctions-icc-hours-after-ex-judge-wins-nobel Fri, 09 Oct 2026 14:51:06 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran The Philippines is developing a national road map to combat child labour as part of a broader push across Southeast Asia, where poverty and insecure livelihoods continue to drive children into work despite government efforts to stamp out the practice. But analysts warn that policy commitments alone will not be enough without stronger support for vulnerable families, better access to education and more effective enforcement of child protection laws. On September 23 and 24, government officials,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3370369/can-philippines-lead-southeast-asias-fight-against-child-labour https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3370369/can-philippines-lead-southeast-asias-fight-against-child-labour Fri, 09 Oct 2026 10:33:52 +0000 Teresa Elena Frontado Teresa Elena Frontado The United States has downgraded Hong Kong to the lowest tier in its annual human trafficking report, citing shortcomings in prosecutions and victim identification, an assessment the city’s government rejected as “entirely unfounded”. The US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, released on Thursday, moved Hong Kong from the Tier 2 Watch List, where it had been listed for two consecutive years, to Tier 3. That places the city alongside mainland China and Macau among 20... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3370244/hong-kong-rejects-us-downgrade-lowest-tier-human-trafficking-report https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3370244/hong-kong-rejects-us-downgrade-lowest-tier-human-trafficking-report Thu, 08 Oct 2026 21:43:50 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Christa Pike has begun walking and eating again at a hospital a week after surviving Tennessee’s attempt to execute her with lethal drugs, her lawyers said Thursday. Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as the state sought to giver her a lethal injection eight days ago for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. The drug didn’t kill her, and her arms were left burned and blistered, according to her lawyers. For the first few days of her hospitalisation, Pike... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3370242/after-failed-us-execution-christa-pike-walking-mentally-foggy-lawyer-says https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3370242/after-failed-us-execution-christa-pike-walking-mentally-foggy-lawyer-says Thu, 08 Oct 2026 21:33:06 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike is awake and speaking at a hospital, her lawyers said Tuesday, six days after the state’s failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection left her unconscious and on a ventilator. Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as executioners attempted to put her to death last Wednesday for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. The lethal injection drug didn’t kill her, but her lawyers said her arms were left burned and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369962/christa-pike-conscious-and-speaking-after-tennessee-failed-execution https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369962/christa-pike-conscious-and-speaking-after-tennessee-failed-execution Tue, 06 Oct 2026 21:33:51 +0000 Eve Qiao Eve Qiao China tried three times to persuade powerful families in northern Myanmar to shut down scam operations before Myanmar police carried out large-scale arrests in 2023, according to a new documentary broadcast on Chinese state television. The three-part documentary, jointly produced by China’s Ministry of Public Security and state broadcaster CCTV, began airing on Monday. It shows obstacles faced by Chinese authorities in pursuing criminal networks and scam groups operating in northern Myanmar... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/politics/article/3369886/china-tried-3-times-talk-crime-families-out-scam-business-myanmar-state-media https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/politics/article/3369886/china-tried-3-times-talk-crime-families-out-scam-business-myanmar-state-media Tue, 06 Oct 2026 06:44:14 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The International Criminal Court on Monday gave more details about arrest warrants issued last year for two Afghan education ministers accused of committing crimes against humanity through the Taliban government’s restrictions on women and girls. The warrants, for Habibullah Agha, minister of education, and Neda Mohammad Nadeem, minister of higher education, were issued on September 9, 2025 and remained under seal until Monday. The two officials are accused of gender-based persecution linked to... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/south-asia/article/3369838/icc-unseals-arrest-warrants-4-taliban-leaders-wanted-gender-persecution-charges https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/south-asia/article/3369838/icc-unseals-arrest-warrants-4-taliban-leaders-wanted-gender-persecution-charges Mon, 05 Oct 2026 19:43:42 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A Laotian citizen deported by the United States to eSwatini under Donald Trump administration’s immigration crackdown was released from a maximum-security prison in the African nation on Sunday after being held there for more than a year, his lawyer said. Phone Chomsavanh was among five immigrants deported to eSwatini – where he has no ties – in July 2025, in the early days of the Trump administration’s secretive and highly contentious third-country deportation programme. Chomsavanh’s US-based... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3369736/laotian-man-freed-eswatini-jail-14-months-after-us-third-country-deportation https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3369736/laotian-man-freed-eswatini-jail-14-months-after-us-third-country-deportation Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:48:16 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Up to 500 schools across France will be totally or partly closed on Monday because of a wave of student protests that has shaken the country, the education minister said. Lessons will be “totally or partly suspended” in some “400-500” high schools as the security conditions “have not been fulfilled”, said Education Minister Edouard Geffray on Sunday, adding that 24 schools had been “burned or ransacked” since the start of the movement. He described the closures as chiefly a security precaution... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369730/hundreds-schools-close-monday-education-protests-rock-france https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369730/hundreds-schools-close-monday-education-protests-rock-france Sun, 04 Oct 2026 18:42:26 +0000 Reuters Reuters Thousands of young protesters and opposition parties staged protests in the national ⁠capital and Mumbai on ⁠Sunday, demanding the resignation of Election Commission Chief ⁠Gyanesh Kumar, as police detained demonstrators for a third consecutive day. Opposition leaders Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray led protests in Mumbai calling for the scrapping of revisions to the electoral roll and Kumar’s resignation. In Delhi, protesters started gathering in the early evening and police started... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/south-asia/article/3369713/india-election-chief-faces-calls-resign-protesters-opposition https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/south-asia/article/3369713/india-election-chief-faces-calls-resign-protesters-opposition Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:12:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Nearly 1,500 Myanmar nationals who were sent back from Malaysia arrived in the country’s largest city on Sunday despite warnings from the UN refugee agency and rights groups that conditions for return remain unsafe. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021, triggering widespread opposition and plunging large parts of the country into conflict. The returnees, including 86 women, have been convicted of staying... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3369705/malaysia-repatriates-1500-myanmar-nationals-despite-un-risk-warnings https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3369705/malaysia-repatriates-1500-myanmar-nationals-despite-un-risk-warnings Sun, 04 Oct 2026 11:08:17 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The head of Tennessee’s prison system is resigning, Governor Bill Lee announced on Saturday, the first major staff shake-up since Christa Pike’s stunning failed execution left her unconscious and on a ventilator at a hospital. Frank Strada, commissioner of the Department of Correction, will step down this month, Lee said. Some of the governor’s fellow Republicans and other elected officials had been urging a change in leadership. It was the second time since May that Tennessee has not been able... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369673/tennessee-prisons-chief-resigning-after-botched-execution-christa-pike https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369673/tennessee-prisons-chief-resigning-after-botched-execution-christa-pike Sat, 03 Oct 2026 16:53:29 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A condemned female murderer who survived two lethal injections during a botched execution by the US state of Tennessee was in critical condition and receiving “life-saving care”, her lawyer said on Thursday. In an extraordinary chain of events, Christa Pike, 50, was whisked from a prison execution chamber to a hospital Wednesday night, still alive despite two deadly doses of pentobarbital. “What we have been told is that she is in critical condition, receiving life-saving care,” Randy Spivey... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369503/christa-pike-life-saving-care-after-botched-tennessee-execution https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369503/christa-pike-life-saving-care-after-botched-tennessee-execution Fri, 02 Oct 2026 03:02:52 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A protest by French secondary school students over overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and crumbling facilities deepened on Thursday, with fires set outside schools and blockades in several cities. More than 160 schools were shut down on Thursday, while university students joined the protests in Paris and Marseille. The movement in the lycees, which students aged 15 to 18 attend for their final three years of secondary education in France, has seen hundreds detained. The government said... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369482/french-school-protests-spread-fires-blockades-deepen-unrest https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369482/french-school-protests-spread-fires-blockades-deepen-unrest Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:47:38 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Tennessee officials were unable to put Christa Pike to death on Wednesday for a 1995 murder after administering two doses of a lethal drug. A death penalty expert said it was an unprecedented failure, and Tennessee’s governor halted the remaining execution for the rest of the year. Pike, 50, was alive and loudly snoring after the attempted lethal injection and taken by ambulance from the prison, her lawyers said. She was being treated at a hospital, but they said they had not been told about her... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369413/tennessee-fails-execute-christa-pike-after-2-doses-lethal-drug https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369413/tennessee-fails-execute-christa-pike-after-2-doses-lethal-drug Thu, 01 Oct 2026 04:14:43 +0000 Reuters Reuters A US appeal court on Wednesday halted the ⁠execution of death row inmate Christa Pike in Tennessee, less than two hours before she was scheduled to become the first woman that state has put to death in more than 200 years. The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a “short stay of execution” to give it time to weigh Pike’s claim that her allegations of childhood sexual abuse were not adequately considered during her sentencing. The court did not provide a specific time frame. Pike, whose... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369385/us-tennessees-first-execution-woman-200-years-halted https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369385/us-tennessees-first-execution-woman-200-years-halted Wed, 30 Sep 2026 16:00:16 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The US Supreme Court on Tuesday let President Donald Trump’s administration continue swiftly deporting people to countries other than their own for now, while the justices consider whether the policy is legal. The apparent 6-3 order temporarily lifts lower court requirements for migrants to get a chance to object before being sent to countries to which they have no ties. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in December. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson would have... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369275/us-supreme-court-lets-trump-resume-deportations-third-countries https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369275/us-supreme-court-lets-trump-resume-deportations-third-countries Wed, 30 Sep 2026 03:21:23 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Migrant rights advocates have hailed the release of Filipino trafficking victim Mary Jane Veloso after 16 years in detention as a victorious milestone, but warn that her case exposes the dangers that still confront many vulnerable workers overseas. After coming harrowingly close to being executed years ago in Indonesia, Veloso walked free on Friday night from the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City, grateful for the absolute pardon granted by Philippine President Ferdinand... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3369068/how-mary-jane-velosos-case-exposes-gaps-filipino-migrant-protection https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3369068/how-mary-jane-velosos-case-exposes-gaps-filipino-migrant-protection Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:35:39 +0000 The Korea Times The Korea Times A proposal to upgrade meals for foreigners awaiting deportation at Incheon International Airport has divided immigration officials, with frontline officers raising safety concerns and some questioning whether better food is appropriate for those ordered to leave South Korea for violating the law. According to immigration authorities on Sunday, the Incheon Airport Immigration Office under the Ministry of Justice is considering providing in-flight meal boxes to foreign nationals awaiting... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/east-asia/article/3368987/south-korea-plan-serve-deportees-airline-meals-splits-officials https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/east-asia/article/3368987/south-korea-plan-serve-deportees-airline-meals-splits-officials Mon, 28 Sep 2026 01:55:05 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press UK police said that five men arrested in the early hours of Sunday near an airbase used by the United States during its war against Iran are being held on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act that appeared to involve three vehicles. London’s Metropolitan Police, which takes the lead on potential terrorist activities, said police received a call at 12.45am related to the three suspicious vehicles that appeared to be travelling towards RAF Fairford, a UK-owned base that is operated by the US... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3368968/uk-arrests-5-after-incident-near-airbase-used-us-bombers https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3368968/uk-arrests-5-after-incident-near-airbase-used-us-bombers Sun, 27 Sep 2026 14:00:18 +0000 Reuters Reuters South African police on Sunday were hunting the perpetrators of two separate shootings that killed 27 people within hours of each other, in stark reminders of the country’s problem with gun violence. Officials were still establishing the motives for the shootings near Johannesburg and Cape Town, but initial investigations suggested one could be a turf war between illegal miners and the other a business rivalry. Violent crime remains rife in South Africa, despite government efforts to curb one of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/africa/article/3368959/south-african-police-probe-mining-feud-shooting-27-dead-elections-near https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/africa/article/3368959/south-african-police-probe-mining-feud-shooting-27-dead-elections-near Sun, 27 Sep 2026 12:07:58 +0000 Reuters Reuters Pope Leo reaffirmed his commitment to ending abuse of children by Catholic priests in a meeting with French abuse survivors on Sunday, the Vatican said, hours after the pontiff urged the Church to admit its own failings and heal its “deep wounds”. In a two-hour meeting with seven survivors in France, where Leo is on a three-city weekend visit, the pope met privately with each of the victims and heard proposals for how to improve the Church’s safeguarding measures, ‌said a Vatican statement. “He... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3368943/pope-meets-victims-sex-abuse-urges-wise-leaders-french-election-looms https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3368943/pope-meets-victims-sex-abuse-urges-wise-leaders-french-election-looms Sun, 27 Sep 2026 09:16:38 +0000 dpa dpa Italy has passed a decree banning face coverings in all schools and capping the proportion of newly arrived foreign pupils with insufficient Italian at 30 per cent per class from the next school year, the government in Rome said on Friday. The government said the 30 per cent quota applies in primary school to children who do not hold Italian citizenship, were not born in Italy and have not attended an Italian kindergarten for at least two years. In secondary schools the same rules apply, except... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3368837/italy-ban-burkas-schools-30-cap-pupils-poor-italian https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3368837/italy-ban-burkas-schools-30-cap-pupils-poor-italian Fri, 25 Sep 2026 11:20:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon and Emmy winner Hannah Einbinder were among a reported 100 people detained by police in New York on Thursday as they broke up a protest against the Israeli prime minister. NYPD officers handcuffed and led away Thelma & Louise star Sarandon at the demonstration as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was readying to address the United Nations General Assembly. The New York Post reported Einbinder, of the show Hacks, had also been frogmarched from the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3368728/hollywood-star-susan-sarandon-among-100-arrested-new-york-anti-netanyahu-protest https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3368728/hollywood-star-susan-sarandon-among-100-arrested-new-york-anti-netanyahu-protest Thu, 24 Sep 2026 23:43:58 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Amnesty International called for the abolition of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is tasked with leading Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown, in a report released on Thursday. The report, titled “We Had Whistles, They Had Guns”, documents widespread human rights violations during ICE’s large-scale operations, the rights watchdog said. The release comes less than a week after a Venezuelan migrant, Wilber Garces Perez, was shot and wounded by an ICE agent in Austin, Texas,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3368727/amnesty-international-calls-abolition-ice-report-documenting-rights-violations https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3368727/amnesty-international-calls-abolition-ice-report-documenting-rights-violations Thu, 24 Sep 2026 23:19:18 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Lashing out at his country’s critics, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily dismissed allegations of Israeli genocide in Gaza as “the biggest lie of the century” in a defiant speech to the UN General Assembly that asserted his nation’s right to wage war against Iran. Scores of delegates trooped out of the hall in protest. Netanyahu addressed the plenum after days of speeches by world leaders condemning Israel’s war in Gaza and accusing him of orchestrating a genocide against the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3368717/abbas-accuses-israel-waging-genocidal-war-gaza-pre-recorded-un-speech https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3368717/abbas-accuses-israel-waging-genocidal-war-gaza-pre-recorded-un-speech Thu, 24 Sep 2026 17:40:03 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A British far-right activist who has led protests against migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats was charged on Thursday after allegedly slashing a dinghy in the water. The incident comes as agitators against immigration adopt a confrontational new tactic of trying to stop the boats landing on England’s shores, clashing with police and rescuers in the process. A video posted on Tuesday on social media appears to show Daniel Thomas, 37, taking a knife to an inflatable boat, which... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3368701/uk-far-right-activist-arrested-after-migrant-boat-slashed-english-channel https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3368701/uk-far-right-activist-arrested-after-migrant-boat-slashed-english-channel Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:11:35 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The US-backed Board of Peace is proposing a six-month US$2.45 billion plan to begin reconstruction and governance in Gaza as President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan struggles to stay afloat. At a meeting of the group’s board, the governors unveiled a 66-project blueprint to get things started while acknowledging enormous hurdles that must still be overcome. The projects include ambitious infrastructure, education and health initiatives that are designed to support Trump’s 20-point plan to end... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/middle-east/article/3368551/trumps-board-peace-proposes-us245-billion-gaza-reconstruction-plan https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/middle-east/article/3368551/trumps-board-peace-proposes-us245-billion-gaza-reconstruction-plan Wed, 23 Sep 2026 14:37:34 +0000 Reuters Reuters Female prisoners in Myanmar are subjected to widespread torture, sexual violence and life-threatening medical neglect, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday, underlining the chronic ill-treatment of thousands of detainees in the war-torn nation. Since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup, a protracted civil war ‌has gripped the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, devastating several regions and killing about 100,000 while displacing more than 3.5 million. In a report, the New... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3368465/beatings-electric-shocks-sexual-violence-women-endure-torture-myanmar-prisons https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3368465/beatings-electric-shocks-sexual-violence-women-endure-torture-myanmar-prisons Wed, 23 Sep 2026 04:25:02 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Nicaraguan government is responsible for at least eight deaths in custody since it began its crackdown on dissent and assault of democratic institutions in 2018, UN experts said Tuesday. The report from the UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua was the latest condemnation of the government of married co-Presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, which has crushed dissent since 2018 mass protests and recently cancelled elections. “A State that resorts to enforced disappearance and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3368413/nicaragua-govt-responsible-least-8-deaths-custody-2018-un https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/americas/article/3368413/nicaragua-govt-responsible-least-8-deaths-custody-2018-un Tue, 22 Sep 2026 12:14:17 +0000